Kelly Dwyer

Hakeem Olajuwon retired from the NBA in 2002. He has not made an All-Star team since 1997, and he is a full two decades removed from leading the Clutch City Houston Rockets to the 1994-95 NBA title. He is 52-years old, and recently he has been better known for crashing NBA drafts, and teaching both Dwight Howard and LeBron James how to work up jab-steps.

You’re in your second semester of AP Basketball History, you love really good teams, and you love lists. With precious little drama left in the NBA’s 2015 offseason, why don’t we hit the barroom and/or barbershop, pour ourselves a frosty mug of Barbicide, and get to arguin’ over each franchise’s most formidable starting five-man lineup.

Because we don’t like making tough decisions, the lineups will reflect the All-NBA line of thinking. There will be no differentiation between separate forward and guard positions, and the squads will be chosen after careful consideration of individual merits only – we don’t really care if your team’s top shooting guard and point guard don’t get along.

These rankings will roll out based on when each franchise began its NBA life. We continue with the Sacramento Kings, a team that has lived in five different cities while having to deal with a whole litany of bad step-dads.

Two of this franchise’s most beloved players, Mitch Richmond and Jack Twyman, deserve note.

You’re in your second semester of AP Basketball History, you love really good teams, and you love lists. With precious little drama left in the NBA’s 2015 offseason, why don’t we hit the barroom and/or barbershop, pour ourselves a frosty mug of Barbicide, and get to arguin’ over each franchise’s most formidable starting five-man lineup.

Because we don’t like making tough decisions, the lineups will reflect the All-NBA line of thinking. There will be no differentiation between separate forward and guard positions, and the squads will be chosen after careful consideration of individual merits only – we don’t really care if your team’s top shooting guard and point guard don’t get along.

These rankings will roll out based on when each franchise began its NBA life. We continue with the Detroit Pistons, a squad that began its NBA existence in a town that currently features a D-League team.

For a team that has struggled through too many low years, this was still an impossibly-tough list to conjure up.

Less than a month into the NBA’s 2015 NBA offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers have firmly established their presence at the top of everyone’s “worst summer in the NBA” lists. The team lost four starters from last year’s club (and even a late-season replacement for one of those starters) to either free agency or trade. Coming off of a 51-win season and division title, the franchise’s front office has decided that it needs to rebuild.

One of those former starters, shooting guard Wesley Matthews, was defined characteristically as the team’s figurative heart and soul several times last year, prior to tearing his Achilles past the mid-point of the season. The Blazers decided against offering their heart and soul a contract as he entered free agency this summer, and Matthews is less than pleased at the team’s refusal to even reach out, much less offer him a contract.

You’re in your second semester of AP Basketball History, you love really good teams, and you love lists. With precious little drama left in the NBA’s 2015 offseason, why don’t we hit the barroom and/or barbershop, pour ourselves a frosty mug of Barbicide, and get to arguin’ over each franchise’s most formidable starting five-man lineup.

Because we don’t like making tough decisions, the lineups will reflect the All-NBA line of thinking. There will be no differentiation between separate forward and guard positions, and the squads will be chosen after careful consideration of individual merits only – we don’t really care if your team’s top shooting guard and point guard don’t get along.

These rankings will roll out based on when each franchise began its NBA life. We continue with the New York Knicks, a team that nearly traded its spot on the island for some nutmeg, trinkets, and two unprotected first-round picks.

(I know, I know. I chose Allan Houston over Earl Monroe. I understand if you don’t want to pass to me ever again.)

The Basketball Hall of Famer and Charlotte Hornets owner lost a lawsuit against a Chinese footwear maker named Qiaodan Sports Co., following a suit he filed in 2012. “Quiodan” apparently is a rough Mandarin translation of the name “Jordan,” and the brand’s logo just happened to feature a dude jumping through the air while holding a basketball.

"'Jordan' is not the only possible reference for 'Qiaodan' in the trademark under dispute," it cited a transcript of the verdict as saying.

"In addition, 'Jordan' is a common surname used by Americans," the court added according to the report Monday, and the logo was in the shape of a person with no facial features, so that it was "hard" for consumers to identify it as Jordan.

You’re in your second semester of AP Basketball History, you love really good teams, and you love lists. With precious little drama left in the NBA’s 2015 offseason, why don’t we hit the barroom and/or barbershop, pour ourselves a frosty mug of Barbicide, and get to arguin’ over each franchise’s most formidable starting five-man lineup.

Because we don’t like making tough decisions, the lineups will reflect the All-NBA line of thinking. There will be no differentiation between separate forward and guard positions, and the squads will be chosen after careful consideration of individual merits only – we don’t really care if your team’s top shooting guard and point guard don’t get along.

You’re in your second semester of AP Basketball History, you love really good teams, and you love lists. With precious little drama left in the NBA’s 2015 offseason, why don’t we hit the barroom and/or barbershop, pour ourselves a frosty mug of Barbicide, and get to arguin’ over each franchise’s most formidable starting five-man lineup?

Because we don’t like making tough decisions, the lineups will reflect the All-NBA line of thinking. There will be no differentiation between separate forward and guard positions, and the squads will be chosen after careful consideration of individual merits only – we don’t really care if your team’s top shooting guard and point guard don’t get along.

These rankings will roll out based on when each franchise began its NBA life. As such, we start with the defending champion Golden State Warriors, established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors.

New Los Angeles Clipper signee Josh Smith is trying to turn his career around with his fourth team in 26 months. The versatile forward, who finished out 2014-15 with Houston after being waived by the Detroit Pistons midseason, signed on for the veteran’s minimum in Los Angeles at around $1.5 million for 2015-16.

We have no way of getting inside of Markieff Morris’ head, right now. We’re not saying that because he’s a twin. We’re not saying that because of the unfortunate incidents that marked his 2014-15 season, and we’re not saying that because he’s part of a generation that, despite screaming advancements in terms of communication and social media, can swiftly get to pick and choose whom they decide to ignore via smartphone.

We’re saying this because different people handle disappointment in different ways, and it’s fair to assume that Markieff Morris is rather disappointed right now. His Phoenix Suns traded away his twin brother Marcus Morris in a bid to secure cap space in the squad’s failed attempt to sign LaMarcus Aldridge, who plays Markieff’s position. Some would be fair in speculating that the Suns also had other motives for breaking up the duo, which had spent two and a half seasons together in Phoenix.

BG: Have you talked with Markieff since everything that's happened this summer?